Capricorns♑

Far apart

Aayra

When I arrived at the office, I headed straight to the intern section. As I walked in, I noticed people giving me strange looks, but I decided to ignore them and went directly to my desk. Sitting down, I focused on my work, deliberately avoiding Ananya, who was seated right beside me. I was genuinely annoyed with her today-she didn't even bother to inform me before leaving the park, which I found incredibly rude.

Putting on my headphones, I immersed myself in my tasks. I was making good progress on my project, and so far, I'd managed to stay in the good graces of my team lead.

I was so absorbed in my work that I didn't notice the growing crowd behind me. It wasn't just a few people-when I finally turned around, nearly the entire intern section was standing there, staring at me. The sudden sight of so many faces caught me off guard, and I felt a jolt of surprise.

I asked, "Is everything alright, guys?"

One of the girls stepped forward, a bit too eagerly. "Hey, how do you know Arth Vardhman?"

"Arth Vardhman?" I thought to myself. I hadn't even known his full name until now. How did they? And is he really that famous? I mean, sure, he has around 650k followers, but most of them seemed to be Italians when I checked. So how do these people know him?

Hesitantly, I replied, "Yeah... I know him. Why? Did something happen?"

Another girl chimed in, eyes wide with curiosity. "Bro, how do you know him? And for how long? Are you guys dating or something?"

I quickly shook my head. "No, not at all. We're just friends. But seriously, why are you all acting like this?"

A third girl nearly rolled her eyes at my confusion. "You seriously don't know? People are going crazy over him, and you're asking us why? How do you even know him if you don't realize how famous he is? The entire media has been covering him since he arrived in India."

My confusion only deepened. "Can someone please explain what's going on? I'm completely lost here."

One of them took a deep breath, ready to spill all the tea. "Okay, listen. He's an Italian businessman, and not just that-he's a billionaire. There are also rumors that he's involved with the mafia, though nothing has been proven yet. He's here to expand his business in India, and ever since he arrived, the media's been buzzing around him, covering his every move. And guess what? Vanshika saw you with him this morning, getting dropped off at the office. Then we checked and found out he even follows you on social media! So, what's the deal, girl? How do you know him, and since when?"

I was still processing the part about him potentially being involved with the mafia-my mind flashed back to that intense morning encounter, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of unease. But before I could dwell on it, one of them snapped her fingers in front of my face, bringing me back to the present.

"I... I've only known him for the past few days, honestly," I stammered. "We're just friends, and he just came to see me off this morning. It wasn't anything special."

One of the girls in the group, clearly more interested in Arth than she should be, leaned in with a sly smile. "Well, if you're not interested, how about you introduce him to me? He's so sexy, I'd love to talk to him."

The moment she said that, a wave of jealousy surged through me. My ears burned hot with irritation. "How dare she?" I thought. "There's no way I'm introducing him to her. Do we even know each other well enough for her to ask me this? And it's him we're talking about! Why on earth would I share him? Is she out of her mind?"

Without thinking, I snapped, "He doesn't talk to just anyone, so sorry, I can't introduce you. You'll have to try on your own. Please don't drag me into this nonsense."